MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - With a week of spring football practice remaining, West Virginia University coach Dana Holgorsen likes where his team is at right now.
A 100-play scrimmage is planned for this afternoon and another 100-play scrimmage is scheduled for next week leading into next Saturday’s Gold-Blue Spring taking place at The Greenbrier.
“We’ve had 10 practices where we’ve had a lot of drills and now the remainder of the spring will be a whole lot of scrimmaging - live situations,” Holgorsen said before today’s practice. “What you see today we will do again on Thursday and we will do the same thing down at The Greenbrier. We’re looking to get about 300 live reps in these next three practices.
“We’ve got to have one more helmet practice on Tuesday - which will really just give us a chance to slow things down and teach a little bit - but for the remainder of the spring, it’s put the ball down and play ball,” Holgorsen added.
The coach said the rapport he’s seeing between quarterback Skyler Howard and wide receivers Shelton Gibson, Ka’Raun White, Daikiel Shorts Jr., running backs Rushel Shell and Elijah Wellman, and a veteran offensive line is the best it’s been since 2012 when Geno Smith, Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey were key playmakers in the offense.
“We had a little bit of that with Clint (Trickett). Clint’s first year was Mario’s (Alford) first year, Charles’ (Sims) first year, Wendell’s (Smallwood) first year and Kevin’s (White) first year (in 2013). That was a dynamic I hope I never have to deal with again,” Holgorsen said. "There was a little continuity with those guys coming back the next year, but with Skyler, Shelton and Daikiel, those guys have been playing together for three years now.
“The Geno, Stedman, Tavon thing I hope we can get to that at some point,” he said. “Those guys had been throwing together for four years and this is the closest thing to that.”
Holgorsen also continues to be pleased with the progress being made along the offensive line, particularly the way new offensive coordinator Joe Wickline is working with Ron Crook managing the players up front.
Crook has been able to focus more on the interior offensive linemen while Wickline has been working closely with the tackles, tight ends and fullbacks. Holgorsen said he’s seen a noticeable improvement in the team’s pass protection this spring.
“We’re in a pretty healthy spot,” Holgorsen said. "A lot of people are asking me, ‘Why did you hire two O-line coaches?’ There are 20 kids there and it’s hard for one guy to be able to keep track of that. The way the NFL does it you’ve got two. Those guys are really working well together. The tackles and the tight ends are getting a lot of individual attention from Coach Wickline and Coach Crook’s strength - the reason I brought him here - is what he can do with the interior O-line and what he can do with those guys playing pretty nasty in the run game and in the pass game as well.”
Holgorsen said three O-line spots are pretty set with center Tyler Orlosky, left guard Adam Pankey and left tackle Yodny Cajuste, but there is a good battle going on right now on the right side with Michigan transfer Kyle Bosch, Marcell Lazard, Tony Matteo and redshirt freshman Colton McKivitz.
“There is some competition,” he said. “It has nothing to do with how Bosch and Marcell are doing but it has everything to do with how Colton McKivitz and Tony Matteo are doing. Those guys are fighting for jobs right now.”
Defensively, Holgorsen is also pleased with the progress Tony Gibson’s unit has made with a week remaining.
“The coaching staff … I can’t tell you how happy I am with that,” he said. “I like the way Gibby is running it and the rapport he’s got with his assistants is really good. I think they are going to be as good as they were last year before it’s all said and done. They’ve got a lot of older guys with playing experience. We’re not replacing a lot of these guys that graduated with new guys. I think they’re in pretty good shape with a lot of four-year and five-year guys that know the system.”
Following today’s practice, Holgorsen said he is looking forward to sitting down in front of his TV to watch a certain spring football game taking place in Columbia, Missouri this afternoon.
“There are a whole bunch of spring games on TV and I’m going to sit down and watch the Missouri game tonight,” he said.
Briefly:
* Last spring, the defense dominated most of the live situations but this year, Holgorsen said there has been more of a competitive balance, which is what he is striving for on both sides of the ball.
“If it’s ever one-sided in spring you’re never going to be any good,” he noted. “It doesn’t matter which side is good. If it’s not competitive and it doesn’t go back and forth and what I see is a team that’s competing pretty good and each side of the ball has had its good days and has had its bad days.”
* Holgorsen on the progress Skyler Howard, coming off a 532-yard passing performance against Arizona State in the Cactus Bowl, has made so far this spring … “He looks like a senior starting quarterback. The communication is good. His checks are outstanding. Timing with the receivers you are starting to see improve. Skyler and Shelton had a deal last year and now he’s starting to develop that with Ka’Raun, with Daikiel and some of the running backs.”
* Holgorsen on having more balance offensively, especially his team’s ability to throw the football more often if needed … “You’ve got to be able to do both. In the bowl game I think we showed that we can throw the ball as good as anybody. It’s just the cohesiveness and the timing - we need depth at wide receiver right now - we’re missing some guys that can potentially change the game. You’ve got good, solid starters in Shelton, Daikiel and Ka’Raun, but we need more guys that can change the game and those guys are coming here in August.
“I’d like to be able to do what we need to do. If it’s run the ball a whole bunch, then that’s what we need to be able to do. If it’s throw the ball a whole bunch, then that’s what we need to be able to do as well.”
Holgorsen said he is expecting to have wide receiver Jovon Durante back this summer.
“Academically we’ve got to see how he finishes,” the coach said. “(True freshman) Marcus Simms has made a lot of plays but he’s still dealing with a death in his family and he’s been here for the majority of the time. He’s shown that he can change the game a little bit. We know (incoming freshman) Steven Smothers can change the game so we’ve got guys that can score, but the good news is we are not expecting those guys to come in and be full-time starters.”
Holgorsen indicated that the group of starting skill players is pretty much established right now with a week left in the spring.
“I think we’ve got our starters with (Gibson), (White) and (Shorts), and then we’ve got the guys that can come in and change things,” he said. “We’ve got the same situation at running back. We’ve got Eli and Shell. Those guys are pretty solidified as our starting backs. You will see (true freshman Kennedy McKoy) out there making plays and we’ve got a pretty good junior college kid (Justin Crawford) coming in so it’s far from a finished product.”
* Holgorsen was asked about quarterback David Sills, who doubled at wide receiver last year as a freshman, and the progress he’s making this spring … “He’s not focusing on receiver so he’s not getting better at receiver. He will play receiver, but unless you are 100-percent focus on it … he’s not Deion Sanders where you just get in there and kind of do some things. He’s a young kid with a lot of eligibility left and until he focuses on one specific thing he’s not going to get great at it.
“Because we have no depth at receiver he will get in there and help us because he’s a team player and we appreciate that.”
* Holgorsen said he’s is still seeking more consistency and reliability from Shell at running back.
“He got banged up and didn’t practice on Thursday and that resembled the old Shell, which is what has happened with him in his career. He’s going today and we’ll see how he performs.”
